Nothing
by EdwardWongHauPepiluTivriskyIV
Summary: Sometimes you just don't understand those Christmas songs... K/18


'I cannot understand how these humans could say they are happy. They are all running into each other, snatching things from one another and a few fights have even broken out. I don't blame them though. If someone snatched something out of my hands, they would lose theirs. Humans are supposed to enjoy this Christmas season, but all I see is greed, greed, greed,' 18 thought to herself as she strolled the Satan City mall.

It was a week before Christmas and the inhabitants of Satan City were practicing last minute habits and hoping the sales were complimenting the crunch time. It was a Saturday afternoon and appeared that, besides the cashiers, nobody was at work. Extra security was dispatched to ensure everything ran as smoothly as it could.

18 wasn't particularly fond of Christmas. Whether it was a feeling from a memory of her past human life, and/or the way the humans were behaving toward it, could be the culprit to that. She also did not have anyone to celebrate with. It was fine with her; she was only shopping to satisfy a shopping craving.

There was a choir of children dressed in red, white and green with jingle bell necklaces. The piano music started and the children began to sing about missing teeth and not being able to do things because of it.

'Why would they force children to sing about exploiting weakness?' 18 thought to herself as she watched the children. Not getting it, she decided to visit a department store and peruse their wares.

"Hey 18," came a voice behind her as she looked at long sweaters. Turning around 18 saw Krillin toting quite a few shopping bags in his hands. He appeared to be Christmas shopping. 18 smirked, imagining Krillin fighting with the other customers.

"Hey," she responded, more friendly than she had wanted. Ever since he saved her, her hardness toward him had melted a bit. She would not get attached to the human though. He fought on the side not too particularly fond of her.

"What have you been up to?" he asked, adjusting the bags in his hands because the handles were starting to cut off his circulation.

"Just shopping," she responded, holding up a few bags of her own. He gave her a skeptical looking. "You know, with human money." More skepticism. "I am following the rules. Does it matter where it came from?"

Krillin let it drop. He did not really want to know anyway. 18 walked alongside him as they left the department store. A crowd of people were gathered around the choir, hoping to catch some Christmas spirit as their credit cards took a beating.

The children started a rendition of 'I'm getting nuttin' for Christmas' complete with exaggerated gestures. 18 watched and listened to the absurd carol. When the choir was onto the second verse, 18 turned to Krillin, who was amused by the kids who were out of sync, watching each other instead of listening to the musical cues they had learned.

"I thought human kids were troubled by not getting things for Christmas," 18 mused, still not getting why these kids were being forced to sing songs of weakness and negligence.

"When you're bad, you gotta own up to it. In your case, it would be more, 'I stole some cash from a human; he probably snit—" the look 18 gave Krillin cut that song short. He scratched the back of his head with a panicked apology. 18 shrugged it off.

"Well, better get back to work since I'm getting nothing for Christmas then," she winked, not bothered by the song's truth. It happened when she and 17 were kids…probably. In a softer tone, she added, "See you later," and was off. Krillin watched her leave, thought for a moment and went in the opposite direction.

0000000000000000000000000

More shopping bags later and a few glares for fellow customers that were too impatient or daring and 18 thought she had had enough. There was not going to be any peaceful shopping here today. Just as she was about to leave, the nearest exit had a medium-sized Christmas tree with ornaments in the shapes of cards. Nearing it, 18 saw that the cards had names on them and ages. A woman sat next to the tree, watching over a bin. Inside, few toys had the cards on them. The woman noticed 18's gazed and said with somberness, "People are just not giving this year." 18 thought about that for a moment and countered it with thoughts of the song she and Krillin were listening to and decided to visit the toy store.

Ten minutes later, 18 came out with a carriage full of varying toys. They were not bagged and filled up the bottom also. The one looked on until 18 stopped at the bin. Then, the woman's eyes almost shot out of her head at the sheer surprise of the sight.

"Make sure no child gets nothing for Christmas," 18 said and walked away.

"Th-th-thank you, thank you," the woman stammered as she started to take the cards off the tree and put them on the toys and place them into the bin. 'There,' 18 thought. 'Stupid humans should be doing that instead of fighting each other for those items. Rolling her eyes, she went back to shopping.

Heading back to the department store, she had to pass the choir again. The children's choir began a rendition of 'I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.' The kids were losing their gusto and becoming tired. Some grew weary of eyeing the largely boxed toys passing by.

'What is with these humans?!' 18 thought incredulously. 'Why are they now singing about their mothers kissing a man who is not their father? Is that how they are getting the gifts? I would've blasted the unfortunate fellow and taken the gifts if that was what he'd expected.' She smirked and decided to go to the department store on the other side of the mall.

The other side of the mall boasted the fancier, more expensive department store with highly decorated windows and sales of signs that were not too impressive.

'It's not like I have to look at prices,' she thought. The thought was cut short when another group of uniformly dressed women took to a short platform. They were all elderly in age, with buns in their hair and small spectacles on the bridge of their noses. One of the women stepped forward and began to conduct. 'Hark the Herald Angels Sing,' came in a sweet flowing melody, much more polished than the children. 18 stopped to listen because there didn't seem to be any exploitation involved.

Krillin exited the upscale department store and seeing 18 and the senior choir, went over to join her.

"You're still here," 18 greeted.

"I had to pick up a few more things," he replied holding up the fewer, but bigger bags. "I had to condense a little," he laughed.

"What is this about?" 18 asked Krillin, referring to the song.

"It's a Christian song paying homage to their creator and his son," Krillin responded. 18 scoffed.

"I cannot see myself paying anything to Dr. Gero. 17 on the other hand…" She knew he had to be out there somewhere. Everyone else was brought back.

"The Christmas songs are not all bad; it's just sorting out the good ones from the bad ones," Krillin told. "Umm…" he said, starting to get nervous. "I saw what you did upstairs."

"Money came from thieves anyway," 18 smirked. "Put it to good use."

Krillin's face started to turn red. Shifting through his bags, he pulled out a small gift with a bow on top. 18 softened.

He handed her the gift. "Now you're not getting nothing for Christmas." 18 took the gift in her hands and looked at it. Feeling embarrassed, Krillin muttered a Merry Christmas and started to walk away. 18 still looked at the gift in her hands and with a smile, chimed, "Wait up!"


End file.
